Verena's so-called "quick trip" from Evelyn's dorm to hers turned into a full-blown side quest from hell.
First, she had to dodge a flock of aggressively territorial pigeons that decided she looked like prime target practice.
Then, she nearly fell into one of the academy's mimic fountains because apparently, the school thought it was hilarious to enchant random water sources to bite people.
And to top it all off, she got chased by a sentient broom that mistook her for stray dirt and tried to sweep her off the damn path.
By the time she reached her dorm, she was sweaty and questioning all her life choices.
And that's how she ended up here yet again on glamorous stair-cleaning duty.
As punishment for being late again, she was handed a bucket, a brush, and the soul-crushing task of scrubbing the academy's endless, winding staircases.
At this point, she was starting to think they assigned this punishment just to humble students into contemplating their poor life choices.
